Social media isnâ€™t just a â€œplace for friends;â€ itâ€™s a place for business. In fact, solid proof exists that social media campaigns grow more than leads or traffic, but increase sales as well.Â (I recently wrote an article documenting increased sales as a direct result of social media campaigns.)

As more success stories are published, companies that haven’t already gravitated toward social media will begin to do so. This will increase the need for social media managers

There’s only oneÂ university of which I’m aware that offers a social media degree. The one-year, full-time, $6,500 program will get you a Master’s degree. However, some online sourcesÂ doubt the program’s depth.Â A smattering of online colleges offer social media degrees (i.e.,Â University of San Francisco), but I wasn’t able to find any data on the programs’ success (or lack-thereof).

The problem is multi-layered, the first hurdle being a shortage of Â social media “masters” capable of teaching social media engagement in-depth; according to Traffickd, there are at least 475 active social media sites (ironically, two sites that I use regularly aren’t on the list…). Complicating matters further, social media is like shifting sand; a course curriculum in February is obsolete as soon as it’s printed. Â These are endemic issues with tech companies, and until there’s a standard, companies that wish to increase their social media prowess will struggle to find knowledgeable social media managers who can not only drive results, but also add value to the organization. Read the rest of this entry »

So the latest Mashable article on the use of social media points to emarketer results indicating that two-thirds of marketers use social media in some capacity. The number is projected to increase to 82% in the next 12 months leaving a mere 12% of businesses uninterested in using the online outlet. The reasons companies arenâ€™t using? They range from not knowing what to do, to not understanding measurement and benefits, to believing it is a poor use of employee time.

As this seems to be a great thing for businesses like myself that teach companies how to use social media and help create and execute social media plans, it definitely leaves the social media space cluttered. The space is becoming filled with a lot more noise than a few months ago, and the noise can definitely get in the way of effective messaging. Read the rest of this entry »

Sponsored Tweets, an IZEA company formerly known for “Pay Per Post” that paid bloggers to write about specific products has moved into Twitterdom.Â Sponsored Tweets offers Twitter users the option of sending their followers messages that hype brands or products. The chosen Twitterers get paid based upon a flat-fee per Tweet, or the number of clicks that their Tweets rack up.

The Sponsored Tweets platform works by giving advertisers the ability to create campaigns and select, invite, and approve Twitterers of their choosing to participate in their sponsored campaigns. On the flip side, Twitterers can set their pay rate and find opportunities to tweet on behalf of advertisers and get paid per tweet and/or click.

Similar to its blogging program, Sponsored Tweets will carry disclosure in the form of a #spon hashtag. In other words, if someone is being paid to tweet about a product, it will be disclosed, assuming that users follow the rules. Read the rest of this entry »